Musnad Ahmad

It is narrated from Hazrat Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) and Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) that when the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would camp at any place, his Muhajir Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) would be close to him. Once, we camped at a place and the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up for prayer at night while we were sleeping around. Suddenly, Hazrat Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) and I woke up at night and did not find the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his sleeping place. We set out in search of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and we heard a sound like that produced by a millstone, and we stopped in our tracks. The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was coming from the direction of that sound. When he came near, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "What happened to you?" We replied, "When we woke up and did not find you in your place, we feared that some harm might have come to you, so we set out to search for you." The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "A messenger from my Lord came to me and gave me the choice between two things: that half of my Ummah would enter Paradise, or that I would be granted the right of intercession. So I preferred the aspect of intercession." Both of us said, "O Messenger of Allah! We ask you, by Islam and the right of your companionship, to pray to Allah that He includes us in your intercession." Other people also arrived and began to make the same request, and their number increased. The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Every person who dies in such a state that he does not associate anyone with Allah will be included in my intercession."